Where should he play? The question remains open and, after the Turkish player’s brace against Cagliari, the coach has further explored it: where can the number 10 perform at his best?
A majority plus one is needed to determine whether Yildiz should play more as a second striker or a winger. Spalletti, who “used to hear everything from the outside, but now I’m on the inside,” is trying to reach a compromise by “doing a bit of both.” He has definitely made up his mind about the player, even if the difficult part for the coach comes now: convincing the Turkish player to follow a game plan, perhaps more effectively than his predecessors Tudor and Thiago Motta. Allegri gave the 2005-born player his first-team debut, but at that time, the player was coming off a good season in the Primavera (used mainly as a striker) and a brief stint in Next Gen to gain experience among the big boys.
Yildiz’s first breakthrough at Juve came under Thiago Motta, who always asked the player to act more as a left-sided winger. The coach’s instructions mainly went in two directions: the first was to come inside the field and look for a right-footed shot from the top of the opponent’s penalty area, the second was to immediately attack the opponent’s possession to interrupt their build-up play. In both cases, which required quick thinking and a significant expenditure of energy, the forward was not always able to last the full 90 minutes, ending up lacking sharpness in the penalty area. So, in order to better manage his stamina, Yildiz played slightly deeper: just enough to avoid getting into trouble.
WITH TUDOR— Tudor’s arrival on the Juve bench gave the player a little more freedom when not in possession. Under the Croatian manager, Yildiz has had fewer defensive responsibilities and has been encouraged to attack more through the center, so as to be closer to the goal. Unlike Thiago Motta, who sometimes played the Turkish player on the right, Tudor has always played him on the left or asked him to stay as high up the pitch as possible, so that he can support Vlahovic or the target man in the penalty area. Yildiz maintained his tendency to move more freely and not be monotonous: it was precisely his ability to unsettle opposing defenses that convinced Tudor not to restrict him too much in tactical schemes, but to let him play from the attacking midfield position.
WITH SPALLETTI— Finding a much more aware and already partially developed player (no longer a raw talent to be molded), Spalletti immediately leveraged his freedom of movement. “Once he makes a play inside and you say he’s a second striker. Then you find him making a play on the flag and you say he’s a winger. Then he comes back to the middle. Then? Then he goes where he wants because he knows best where he can find space,” said the Juve coach. “I put him at left attacking midfielder so he can go according to the circumstances. Obviously, if he stays inside, he’s closer to the goal, and I’d prefer that because he’s good at turning both to the right and to the left. But there, you find a lot of tight spaces compared to being more open, where he jumps over the man and puts you in a position to score because it’s harder to do it from so far away.”
THE PERSPECTIVE— Spalletti’s desire is for him to “stay more central, because when he turns and looks at the goal, the bells ring, even in training.” But only time will clarify Yildiz’s role, who is currently much more important for Juve in terms of goals, especially after Vlahovic’s injury and the precarious performance of David and Openda. The Turkish player could also become the key to unlocking the two new arrivals in attack, but Spalletti needs certainty. Under Thiago Motta, Yildiz scored six goals and provided five assists in 42 games between the league and cups. Under Tudor, however, the 2005-born player has increased his personal performance with 8 goals and 8 assists in 22 games. Under Spalletti, immediately after scoring against Udinese with Brambilla on the bench, the number 10 has scored 2 goals and provided one assist in 5 games.
